Friday, May 18, 2012

Librarian weeding humor (sort of)

Here are a few of my favorite weeds...

One of the vital pieces of library work is weeding, or removing books that are no longer viable for the health and growth of the collection.  These books were all removed from my library, by me, at some point during the last four years.

While these books all served a purpose, their removal was way overdue.  Now they do little else but amuse me and hopefully you.
This 1983 classic includes the suggestion that by 2010 there will be an international university
housed entirely on computers (iTunesU anyone)?
 In 1977 this was a popular disco move, but was also excellent for fending off unwelcome advances.

The year is 1985 and with topics like "On your own" & "Talking about telephones"
the young latch-key kid will now be prepared for anything.







Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Social network/Information overload

There are so many ways to gather and digest the information flowing through the infosphere.  I enjoy using ScoopIt! and following folks on Twitter, but I must confess- I don't get the point of RSS feeds. I have a Google Reader page, I just don't check it all that often.  Here's why... All the blogs/pages/people I'd want to see on my RSS feed, I already follow either through Twitter, or in Flipboard.  It seems redundant to get the same feeds from multiple sources.  With apps like Flipboard, do we really need Google Reader? Or other feed readers?  Do I need both? Am I missing something? Is it possible to keep up with so many different things, or should I focus on a few key tools?

Thursday, May 10, 2012

I'm officially a NETS*T certified teacher!  I chose to undertake the certification process for several reasons, but my main goal was to create a record of the kind of work and technology integration that I have been actively engaged in throughout my career.  The process was administered through a program at James Madison University and all of the reflections and evidence that I created were uploaded to their review system.  Because the portfolio I created is on their server, I am in the process of duplicating much of my portfolio in a Google Site.  Although not complete, it gives an overview of what was required for each of the standards.  For me, the most difficult pieces were those that that required evidence that I, as a librarian, do not usually collect.  My work is collaborative and usually I am there as a project begins, but not at the end of the road.  One goal for me next year will to do a better job of assessing my impact of the students and teachers I serve.

First post

I'm simply overwhelmed. I have been following several conferences simultaneously on Twitter and feel the neurons firing at the speed of light.  My goal is to better organize my digital presence as well as my professional portfolio.  Currently, I curate a page on ScoopIt! I have a Google Reader page, a Diigo accocunt, I tweet, Facebook and Flipboard.  Through all of this, I am becoming a better guide for students who come to me for assistance on their educational journeys.